Anambas Islands

Tarempa · Riau Islands · Indonesia

The Anambas Islands lie in the middle of the South China Sea, roughly equidistant between Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo, an archipelago of 238 islands where granite peaks pierce turquoise water and coral reefs grow in near-total isolation from the diving world. This is one of Southeast Asia's last genuinely undiscovered dive frontiers, a place where the difficulty of access has preserved marine environments in a condition that more famous destinations lost decades ago. The underwater landscape is distinctive and immediately striking. Unlike the volcanic geology of most Indonesian dive sites, Anambas sits on ancient granite, and the islands' characteristic above-water boulder formations continue below the surface. Massive rounded granite blocks, some the size of houses, tumble down slopes and stack against each other to create caverns, swim-throughs, and overhangs festooned with gorgonian fans and soft corals. Between and around the boulders, hard coral gardens stretch in unbroken coverage. I descended along a granite slope off Pulau Durai and the reef health was startling. Table corals extended in overlapping tiers for as far as visibility allowed, and that visibility was extraordinary: thirty-five metres of crystal water with a slight blue cast, free of the sediment that clouds so many tropical Asian sites. Blacktip reef sharks cruised the outer edge, and a Napoleon wrasse of exceptional size held position under a granite overhang. The macro life exploits every crevice the granite provides. In the sheltered spaces between boulders, nudibranch diversity is impressive, and cuttlefish hover in the dim recesses displaying their iridescent skin patterns to rivals and mates. Hawksbill turtles wedge themselves into sleeping crevices by day, their shells visible from metres away.